


Labor of Love

by KillerQueeenBee



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Awkwardness, F/M, Fluff, Malcolm Bright Gets a Hug, and he deserves it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23768974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillerQueeenBee/pseuds/KillerQueeenBee
Summary: Malcolm inadvertently breaks Edrisa's favorite mug and decides to make it up to her.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Edrisa Tanaka, Malcolm Bright/Edrisa Tanaka
Comments: 10
Kudos: 100





	Labor of Love

Edrisa was quite a bit more shaken by this case than any other, which put her a little on edge. The victim was young, really young, and had been killed without mercy. What kind of person could do that? She was staring into her coffee mug, taking a short break from the autopsy work to try and keep herself sane, but she just kept thinking about how messed up this all was, and how unfair. She didn't hear the door to the lab open, but she did hear a slightly concerned "Edrisa?" which scared her out of her skin and led her to drop her mug full of lukewarm coffee.

Malcolm hadn't meant to scare Edrisa, but the shattering of the mug caught him off guard and scared him a little bit too. He felt terrible about having caused such a reaction, he'd never meant to sneak up on her. He came closer to Edrisa and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? Did any of it get on you?" He asked gently, giving her shoulder the lightest of squeezes. Everyone was feeling a bit fragile over the case, and this definitely wasn't helping.

On the one hand, Malcolm was touching her, so that was nice. And he spoke so softly, with such care in his voice. God, he was perfect. But on the other hand, there was some coffee on her shoes, though luckily she was wearing boots today, so it would come off easily enough, but it was just a bit too much to process for today. "That was my favorite mug." She said quietly, staring down at the broken remnants of it. "It said "A coroner loves you for what's on the inside," ha." Her attempt at a laugh was pitiful but it really had been her absolute favorite mug, she'd thought it was funny and sweet and it fit her perfectly. Now it was gone. 

"I'm so sorry, Edrisa. I really didn't mean to scare you." Malcolm said, and he truly was extremely sorry. It hurt him to know he'd hurt her. Edrisa was one of the last people on the planet that he wanted to hurt. "Here, come with me. I'll get you some new coffee and you can take a break. You definitely deserve one and probably need one." 

Malcolm led Edrisa the short distance to the precinct where he made her a cup of coffee in his mug and dug a cherry sucker out of his desk. Maybe it was stupid, but he kept suckers in his desk now because he wanted to be able to cheer people up when they needed it, and it had seemed to work sort of well last time he'd tried it. At least, it had definitely worked with Edrisa, and right now, that was all that mattered. 

Edrisa blinked when Malcolm handed her a cherry lollipop. "You remembered." She said with a soft smile. It was nearly enough to override the sadness she felt about her mug. It had been weeks, maybe even months since she'd said cherry was her favorite. That was hardly worth remembering, and yet... Bright had. 

"Of course." Malcolm said easily, smiling back. He remembered because it had made his day, the way she'd smiled at him for offering her something so small which happened to be her favorite. It had been rather serendipitous, and he could never forget that. 

Edrisa felt a little bit better upon seeing Malcolm's smile, and she knew that after taking a short break she'd be able to get back to work. "Thank you, Bright. I really appreciate it. And it wasn't your fault. The mug, I mean. I was just a little out of it. Still kinda am, but the coffee will probably help." She said, nodding to the mug in her hands. Malcolm's mug. The urge to break it itched in her fingers for only a moment, but she knew she didn't mean it. She'd feel terrible if she did that. Especially if it was on purpose.

Malcolm gave Edrisa's shoulder one more squeeze. "Let me know if you need anything, okay?" He told her, before checking his watch. "I've got to go, but text me if you need anything at all." With a warm and reassuring smile, he left.

When Edrisa finally got back to her lab, her mug was gone and the coffee has been cleaned up. She mourned the loss of the pieces, which she could have possibly glued back together if she was feeling brave and extremely patient, but she couldn't fault the janitorial staff for wanting to get rid of broken glass.

About a week later Edrisa was using a different mug that she'd brought in from home and she had almost forgotten completely about her other mug. Well, not really, but she was managing. They'd solved the case a few days ago and the killer was brought to justice, thank God. 

When Bright came into the lab looking pleased, she was understandably excited, but after a moment of actually using her brain, she realized it was weird he was here since she didn't have any sort of case for him. "Bright! Hi! What are you doing here?" She asked in maybe a bit too cheerful a tone, but she was happy to see him. Even if she had absolutely no idea what he could possibly want.

"Hello Edrisa." Malcolm said, and he couldn't help but grin. "I brought you something." He produced from behind his back Edrisa's mug, which was now back in one piece. And it wasn't a replica of her mug that he'd just bought to replace it, it was her very mug, with a few small alterations. 

"Oh my God. Is that kintsugi? Where did you get that done? Oh, it's beautiful." Edrisa rushed over to examine the mug and the golden veins which now held it together. She looked up at Bright and absolutely beamed. "You didn't have to do this! I told you it wasn't your fault."

Malcolm's heart melted as she gushed over the mug. He let her take it and look it over with rapt attention and he nearly forgot to answer her because he got caught up in her reaction. "Oh, I uh- well. I did it myself, actually." He admitted, feeling a tad sheepish. It was good work, but he was still a tad nervous presenting it to her as his own. "I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I know what it means to you." 

Edrisa's eyes widened as she looked back at the mug which was so expertly put back together and made beautiful by the broken pieces it held. Malcolm Bright was always so full of surprises. She felt overwhelmed in the best way and without thinking she set the mug down, leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. God, this must have taken you so long! I just- no one's ever done anything like this for me before." When she pulled away she felt her cheeks become warm, but when she risked a glance at Malcolm's face, she was pleased to see a soft blush on his cheeks and a shy smile on his lips.

"I um, I picked it up as a sort of hobby. If I can't fix myself at least I can fix a mug?" Malcolm joked, but of course it wasn't really a joke and he couldn't meet her eyes because he was broken, but nothing would ever make that beautiful.

Edrisa shook her head a little and put a finger under Malcolm's chin to get him to look at her. "You're not broken, Bright, and even if you were, which you're not, you are definitely more beautiful than any kintsugi I've ever seen." And oh God that was embarrassing, but it must have worked because before she could really get to regretting saying that Malcolm was leaning in for a kiss.

It was soft and sweet and perfect in every way and when Malcolm pulled away, they were both breathless and grinning. "Does this mean that I'm forgiven for breaking your favorite mug?" He asked, but he knew the answer.

"Oh, you're more than forgiven. I think I owe you dinner, now. Maybe around 7 tonight?" Edrisa suggested, because she was feeling rather more confident than she ever had and a bold move seemed a safe enough bet with Malcolm. She hoped, anyway.

Malcolm chuckled, and he was absolutely endeared that Edrisa was asking him out. "7 o'clock is perfect. It's a date." Oh, how it felt good to say that.

"It's a date!" Edrisa said, very enthusiastically. _Bring it down, Tanaka._ "Yeah, yep. That's great. I'll just be uh, here. Until then. And I'll see you later. For our date." That wasn't better, but instead of rolling his eyes or looking any sort of irritated, Malcolm actually smiled at her, which was such a welcome change of pace.

"I'll see you then, Edrisa." Malcolm hummed, leaning to kiss Edrisa quickly on the cheek before he left the room at a surprisingly normal pace, which he counted as a win.

Edrisa touched her cheek and watched Malcolm go before she turned her attention back to the mug that he'd brought to her. She was truly in awe of Malcolm and all his talents. Maybe tonight she would get to learn a bit more about them. On her _date_ , with _Malcolm Bright._


End file.
